Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 22, 1995 TAG: 9510210011
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: G-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES A. KENNEDY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Public awareness of these issues is heightened by the growth of independent religious programming utilizing cable and satellite television and radio stations. The primary users and beneficiaries of these media systems have been conservative and evangelical Protestant sects with a direct and simple message: The nation's salvation depends on a return to the ways of God (as understood by the sponsor of the program).
Implicit, but not always admitted, in this programming is the vision of America as a country of white Protestants of Northern European lineage. This image is bolstered by references to the first "Americans" in the Plymouth Colony or Jamestown, and to theocracies such as the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Virginia, where ministers were paid by the government and churches were built at public expense.
Conveniently and deliberately ignored in this vision are the deep divisions in colonial American society that prevented Baptists, Methodists or Presbyterians from conducting public worship in a Virginia dominated by the Anglican Church, and similar exclusions in New England against the power of the Congregational churches. Even "tolerant" Rhode Island and Quaker Pennsylvania prohibited Catholics or Jews from holding public office. One bright spot in this picture was Charleston, S.C., whose charter permitted any seven people to "denominate themselves" a religious society and conduct services. As a result, Anglicans, French Protestants and Jews maintained their own houses of worship in that thriving seaport.
A religious base to the government of the United States is in fact described in the Constitution, and it comes from a Christian theologian. John Calvin argued that, since all humans are sinners, they will want to advance their own selfish interests, not the interests of others. Therefore, a rational form of government requires a set of checks and balances against the selfish desires of individuals or groups of individuals.
Presbyterian church polity was based on the "republican" principle of representatives from each congregation deliberating on issues before voting a course of action. The decision of the majority would then be binding on all the churches, with a system of "courts of the church" to allow for adequate presentations by all parties concerned.
The genius of the drafters of the federal Constitution was to take this church format and apply it to the larger society. The theological-philosophical base was left untouched but expanded to include all citizens, whether Christian or not. The theology demanded no less: As part of their profession of faith, the Calvinists insisted that the Bible describes not only the condition of ancient Israelites, but also the condition of human beings everywhere.
Therefore, the challenge is to craft a governmental structure that will paradoxically make the most of this defect in human nature. so the executive, legislative and judicial branches must each have oversight responsibilities for the others, thus preventing any one branch from becoming tyrannical.
What does this mean for the vision of the radical religious right to re-establish a Christian America? Any idea of a Christian America is unconstitutional!
Article VI forbids any religious test for office. This was a major departure from the practices of the colonial governments. The Constitution is neutral on religious matters, which may explain why the radical religious right is so intent on amending it: They must acknowledge that their program for America cannot happen under the present Constitution. At the least, their proposed amendments would clog the legislative machinery for the foreseeable future; at the worst, these amendments would undercut or destroy the Constitution's provisions regarding the free exercise of religion.
Any vision of "Christian America" must necessarily be exclusive and restrictive of individual freedoms, beginning with freedom of religion. Our colonial experience showed how those exclusions prevented individuals from being fully accepted citizens in their own society. African Muslims arrived in chains and stayed in bondage. Jews had to negotiate special charters with governors to obtain permission for synagogues. Quakers were hounded out of Boston and threatened with death if they returned. This is the dark side of "Christian America."
What does it mean to be an American? The name was given to a continent to which people came. The settlers adopted the name through a political process that continues today. Our democracy is never a finished product; it is dynamic, sprawling, even brawling.
But the American experiment came to have one fixed anchor. Anyone could participate in this system provided he or she swore an oath of loyalty to the Constitution. To be an American means that nothing else - national origin, social status, religion, race - was relevant except loyalty to the Constitution. The nation took almost two centuries to live up to the promises of the authors.
What is needed today is a ceremony for the children of citizens in each generation to affirm their loyalty to the Constitution. We already require it of elected officials, military personnel and newly arrived citizens. Along with the fireworks on the Fourth of July, there should also be an opportunity to revive the prophetic sentiment of Daniel Webster: "One country, one Constitution, one destiny!"
Charles A. Kennedy, professor emeritus of religion at Virginia Tech, lives in retirement in New Hampshire.
by CNB